Energized Employees Power Your Profits – “I Held the Hand of the Young Woman and Comforted Her…As She Died”

Dave Hill - Article On Energized Employees

Do you ever stop to think about the exceptional people who are in your circle of friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and workmates? Who are the people who inspire, motivate, and help move you forward in your life? This article is to recognize a few people and to highlight the importance of having exceptional human beings surrounding you.

It was an early Saturday morning in May, 2004. I was at the sideline cheering on my son who was playing soccer. One of the other parents, a policeman called Joel, arrived very late with his son, and I saw that he looked stressed. I asked him what was up. Joel said that he had been rushing all morning and was a few miles from the soccer pitch when he saw a bad car wreck on the side of the road. The emergency vehicles were already there, lights flashing and cordoning off the crash area. Joel saw that a car and a cement truck had been in collision. He was off duty and rushing to get his son to the soccer game on time, but his instinct told him he should stop and see if he could help out. His voice was stressed and emotional when he said, “Dave, I am so glad I stopped. I was able to hold the hand of the young woman in the car, and comfort her… as she died.” Even though I have not seen him in years, I will never forget him and his kindness.

Fast forward to this Christmas and my elderly, jolly neighbor Jerry is at our house having dinner. He is one of those exceptional people who are “wired” to help others. To give you some recent examples, he noticed our house gutter drain pipe had blown down and he “took care of it”. I had a dead tree in my front garden, and he cut it down for me and even removed all the limbs and branches to the local recycling depot. When he clears leaves in the fall, he usually clears leaves from numerous houses on each side of his own without prompt. When my wife came back to the house one day, and found the back door open while I was on a business trip, our good neighbor checked the house room by room for any possible lurking thieves. When he visited his daughter before Christmas, he drove to Ohio from Dallas loaded up with tools to help renovate her house.
While at our table, he said something that impacted me. He told us that he had been at the Lowe’s hardware store that day and was wearing his baseball cap that had a small worn US Army emblem. A stranger stopped him and asked, “Did you serve in the forces?” My neighbor answered, “Yes,” and the stranger handed him a gift card for $25, and said, “I would like to give you this as a small token to thank you for serving your country.” The stranger then walked away. My neighbor stated, “You know, I served two terms in Vietnam over 40 years ago, and that stranger was the first person to ever thank me.” What a terrific act of kindness.

In my own world, I think about people who have been “guiding lights” and forces to help encourage me and help me succeed in life. People who have the positive spirit and can see their way through any turmoil. People who have spirit and can find happiness and positive energy wherever they go. Mentors, who have pushed, challenged, and encouraged me, many times making me take uncomfortable steps to force me to stretch my capability. Strangers who have interacted with me and help me see the good in the world.

Having worked for nearly 30 years, I understand the importance of companies hiring not only experts, leaders, and exceptional communicators, but good human beings who are trustworthy and who will instill an aura of positive energy that will motivate others.

Albert Einstein wrote:
“The ideas that have lighted my way and, time after time, have given me new courage to face life cheerfully have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth”.

Some Traits of Exceptional Employees:
1. Inherent positive attitude
2. Impeccable ethics and can be trusted
3. Open door policy where direct reports can discuss problems
4. Invites feedback and encourages people to speak with candor
5. Strong, healthy sense of humor
6. Exceptional communicators trained in skills such as negotiation, listening, and conflict management
7. Makes friends at work
8. Values work-home balance
9. Treats fellow workers as human beings rather than “just employees”
10. Recognizes and rewards direct reports at every opportunity
11. Coaches and mentors
12. Leads by example

If you have any advice, thoughts, or comments on exceptional people who have had an impact on your life, please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.

Thanks,

Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Attention Grabbing Training Skills – When Things Go Wrong – “Emotional Conflict and Violent Agreement”

Dave Hill - Article on Organizing Training

In a high speed “do more with even less” workplace environment, disaster sometimes rears its ugly head.

Imagine you’re in a highly technical training class with subject matter that would bring strong emotional viewpoints to the table. There is no doubt that there will be conflict and heated arguments.

This article covers a not-so-perfect training session being conducted by a contract company that specialized in the technical subject. As someone who also provides training on technical subjects and training technical people how to present information effectively, there are some lessons we can all learn from this.

How could a technical training session being conducted by a highly qualified company come unraveled at the edges and set us (the customers) up for potential failure?

The training class was being organized by our group at the corporate office to train and educate technical workers on a radical change in the way they would normally do things. My boss and I had attended this training class a year previously when it was conducted by the owner of the company, someone who was highly respected in industry. The training had been of a very high quality.

A few days before the recent training session, we were informed that the owner would not be conducting the training; it would be an employee that we were not familiar with. It surprised and concerned us that the owner would only be attending the training session in a support role. When we talked to the alternate instructor by phone before the training session, we started to have concerns.

Fifteen minutes into the training, a trainee in the seat to my right, nudged me to get my attention, and whispered sarcastically, “Is this his first time doing training?” Not a good sign!

What went wrong during this training?
1. The trainer appeared nervous and inexperienced.
2. He did not provide a very clear up-front description of the concepts that would be covered, and how all the different parts would fit together to help our company move forward with the significant change. He should have provided a detailed example to help portray how the technical information was to be actually applied.
3. He appeared to be unfamiliar with the material on the slides, his awkward long pauses between sentences gave the indication that he was frantically thinking about what to say next. He was also spending a lot of his time reading the words from the slides using his laser light to annoyingly “bounce” from word to word. He would fly past information when it was clear that attendees needed clarification on specific points.
4. Occasionally his boss, the owner of the contract company, would interrupt him and tell him he was wrong, and correct him.
5. The owner of the contract company was taking notes (as the employee was delivering the training) and developing new slides on a laptop (it appeared that our training session was also being used to help develop better training materials).
6. At times, there were emotional disagreements between the class attendees and the owner of the company that made for awkward moments.
7. I give the instructor some credit for trying to use humor in his training, but he was off-target. The trainees were already grumbling about blatant sales pitches being included in the training material (the contract company also provides services to help mitigate identified hazards). He would make comments such as, “I will not go into this in too much detail because my company does not provide this service – ha, ha, ha”. With groans from the trainees, his boss, the owner of the company scowled, cringed, and politely told him to stop using humor.
8. The instructor had not taken the time to customize his presentation so that the calculation tools and methodology and spreadsheets would mirror those that our company uses. These differences made an already complicated subject even more confusing.
9. During breaks, there were trainee conversations that gave a clear indication of frustration.
10. The emotions were very high during the training. There were even times where people were even portraying “violent agreement” (emotionally charged arguments where everyone was actually in agreement!).
11. Side conversations were not controlled by the instructor, and were disrupting to the training session.
12. The trainees filled in the training evaluation sheets, and it was indicated that they rated it “fair to poor”.

What Were The Results?
1. The contract company, and particularly the instructor, lost a lot of credibility (I would be hesitant to recommend this instructor to anyone).
2. My boss and I lost a lot of credibility as we had organized the training session.
3. The new program we were trying to “sell” to the trainees was off to a very rough start. We knew that they would be grumbling to upper management and hurdles for progress would potentially appear.

What Could We Have Done To Make Sure The Training Was Successful?
1. We should have spent a lot more time preparing for the training session:
• We had assumed that we would get the owner of the contract company doing the training; we should have confirmed this.
• We should have spent time with the instructor customizing the training using our company-specific spreadsheet tools, terminology, etc.
• We should have made sure that there was a very clear picture of the training structure up-front. This would have helped the trainees understand how all the different parts fit together

What are some of the other things I learned during this three day training?
1. Before the training session, we had prepared numerous “actual” technical examples for the trainees to work through, and for the trainer to facilitate. These were scheduled for day three. The trainer and his boss suggested that we split the class up into five groups, get them to solve the problems, and present the results to the rest of the class one by one. They indicated that this would be more effective and more controlled, given the emotionally charged atmosphere. This was great advice and worked exceptionally well.

I would appreciate any comments, tips, or personal stories on training sessions. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Energized Workplaces Power Your Profits – Airlines Without Borders – “The Benefits Of Communicating Positive Workplace Activities Globally”.

As someone who travels a lot- I have travelled to 75 countries so far for business and pleasure-, I have had my fair share of delays due to mechanical failures, bad weather, unexplained reasons, and lost luggage that has decided to visit places other than my final destination. It’s easy to bear a grudge against airlines, but I have grown to focus on the positive things they do.

As I was getting ready to fly back to Dallas from Amarillo, Texas, on January 13th 2010, I watched the sad news on the TV about the earthquake’s devastation in Haiti. They talked about how organizations here in the USA were scrambling to help.

This article is about companies taking the opportunity to “pat themselves on the back” for jobs well done. They do not just communicate successes and uplifting initiatives to their employees, they publicize to the world. Let me give you some examples:

In July, 2009, I was coming back from Ireland from a family visit when I picked up the American Airlines “American Way” magazine. There was an article by American Airways Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey. His one page article described how his company had partnered with Operation International Children (OIC) which works to give Iraqi kids and kids in other countries, a better life. US soldiers had noticed that the schools in Iraq had a lack of basic supplies such as pencils, books, blackboards, etc. and they gathered these types of supplies from family and friends to help out the local schools. That evolved to OIC being formed to support this effort. Gerard Arpey wrote that American Airlines had recently teamed with OIC, and undertook an eight day journey to deliver 20 tons of school supplies, new shoes, and other items. He also encouraged people to visit the OIC website at www.operationiraqichildren.org to make donations.

Six months later, while traveling towards the security area at Amarillo airport, a bulletin board with memos pinned on it stopped me dead in my tracks. The memos were formal letters recognizing some airport employees. It did not just name the employees who had been going over and beyond their normal duties, it described in detail the specific excellent work they were doing. I can imagine that these employees felt really good about themselves, not only being recognized in the arena of fellow employees, but also being recognized by passengers. What a great idea to not only give employees credit for good work, but to communicate the details as broadly as possible. I can imagine how this would enhance employee loyalty, energy, and level of engagement. As a passenger, it made me feel good while I was reading the notes.

Two hours later, I was on my Southwest Airlines flight enjoying some peanuts. I was tired and just wanted to be home and sleeping in my own bed. I happened to pick up the in-flight magazine and there was an article at the beginning of the magazine, written by the Chairman, President, and CEO of Southwest Airways, Gary Kelly. He talked about new years resolutions and also his “evergreen” resolutions, one of which is to give employees the “best place to work”. What a great statement to make to the world. Wouldn’t you want to be a customer of a company that has that culture? A culture that is not “just words” on a piece of paper or on a mission statement, but words you can see in action when you are traveling with them.

As a professional speaker who speaks on “Energizing Workplaces to Power Profits”, the continued upbeat, fun, culture of Southwest Airways keeps me coming back.

The day after my business trip to the Texas Panhandle, I read a CNN article that said the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle (AMR) had sent three airplanes into Haiti carrying 30,000 pounds of relief supplies for employees, local hospitals, and aid groups. They were planning to send additional supplies once congestion problems at the airport were resolved. The airline was also noted as offering air mile incentives for travelers who donate money to the Red Cross.

Looking back at these recollections, I appreciate what management in the airline business is doing. They are in a highly competitive, challenging business where customers are not always happy. I appreciate that management is striving to look for any way to get a positive message out to employees and to the world. We live in a world where we are inundated with negative information, and I find it as breath of fresh air when a positive streak of light finds its way.

What are the avenues your company or organization could use to get a positive message out to the world?
1. Do you have a newsletter that could be viewed on the company website?
2. Could a hardcopy newsletter be put in the reception area for customers to read?
3. How about creating a blog site that describes great things that are happening in the organization such as:
• Community outreach activities
• Recognition of employee achievements
• Creative ideas that improve working conditions, customer service or the bottom line
4. Bulletin boards that are visible to the public

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on communicating positive attributes beyond the workplace. Please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Energized Employees Power Your Profits – “Proud of the Company You Work For, and the Industry You Are In”

Dave Hill - Being Proud Of The Industry You Work In

It was August 28th, 2005. Hurricane Katrina was slamming the southern coast of the United States with her destructive effect. It is estimated that more then 1,800 people lost their lives, and that there was in excess of $80 billion dollars in damage. As corporate engineers working out of Dallas, we wondered how our co-workers were coping at our chemical plants in Louisiana, at their homes, or wherever they had evacuated to. Hurricane procedures and plans had been put into effect and safe shutdowns of the processing units had been ongoing way before the hurricane hit, but nothing was to prepare for the social and industrial infrastructure devastation. After the hurricane, the communication channels opened up slowly through satellite phones. High level meetings were being held to get an understanding of the damage levels, the infrastructure capabilities, and the potential to get our chemical plants up and running. It was on one of these conference calls when production capability was being discussed that someone in senior management interrupted the conversation and stated, “Folks, lets focus on helping our employees first.” Those words struck a cord on the conference call. They are words that I will remember.

Since then, there have been other major storms hitting places such as Houston, Texas. I have never experienced the wrath of a hurricane, but I ask people to tell me how they coped in their time of need. I hear stories of our company purchasing a stockpile of electrical generators, storing them, and transporting them to hurricane zones for employee families to use. I hear stories of interest free loans of up to $10,000 to help people repair homes. I hear of supplies of food and fuel which is used to keep employees and their families fed, and also help them get their lives back together. I hear about employees turning up at each other’s homes to help with repairs. I read about huge corporate donations of money helping communities recover.

As an engineer, I deal with my fair share of stress, frustrations, and even occasional annoyance at the company I work for, when things are not going my way. Sometimes I have to mentally “unplug my negativity” and see that progress is being made, and that there are a whole lot of things to be proud of.

This article is about the importance of being proud of the company you work for, why businesses should always look for ways to positively impact the communities and world, and communicate them to all employees.

Some Of The Things That Immediately Come To Mind That Make Me Proud Include:
• The company I work for manufactures chlorine which is used in widespread applications. The year 2008 was the 100th year anniversary of the use of chlorine for treating water. In the early 1900’s, the average life expectancy in the USA was in the range of 49 years, whereas now it is in the range of 75+ years. Chlorine treatment of water has significantly helped increase the lifespan by minimizing the spread of diseases such as typhoid.
• The organization provides rent free corporate office space to a charity cancer research organization.
• They have employees organizing United Way fundraising events with prizes and fun activities. This happens at the corporate and chemical plant level, and encourages all employees to participate.
• They support and help organize blood donation events.
• Upper management recently sent out an e-mail to communicate how an employee who had been trained in CPR by a chemical plant nurse had recently resuscitated someone involved in a swimming pool accident.
• The corporation supports local high schools. They provide interns with the opportunity to get workplace experience.

Why Get People Focused On The Positive Impact Of A Company Or Business?
• The Great Place To Work Institute surveys over 80,000 employees a year to help develop a list of the 100 Best Companies To Work For. When employees from the best companies are asked why they consider their company a great place to work, one of the top 10 responses is “our company has a profound impact which affects the lives of everyone in the world.”
• Employees will tend to be more energized and engaged if they feel that the work that they do is important to the company, and the products or services the company provides are important to the world.
• Recently, I was talking to a woman about great workplaces. She works for a marketing company and was very exuberant when she stated that she loves her job, loves her boss, and loves the company she works for. She then went on to state that if her business was to ask her to sign a lifetime employment contract, she would do it without hesitating! Would your company or business benefit from employees that “fall in love with the company” and are upbeat, energized and loyal?

What Can You Do To Get A Positive Message Out To Your Employees?
• Organize a periodic newsletter that you can include positive stories
• Develop a web page that is used to capture examples
• Use the company e-mail system to communicate
• Encourage employees to share thoughts and stories
• Identify company “champions” to manage submitted information and communicate it

If you have any advice, thoughts, or comments on helping employees develop pride for the company they work for, please use the comments section below, or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com. Let’s help each other succeed.
Thanks,
Dave Hill

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
http://www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2010 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Energized Employees Power Your Profits – “How Busty Blondes Help Make Great Workplaces – Southwest Airways and Beyond”

Dave Hill - Fun in the Workplace

Several years ago, I was traveling from Houston to Dallas on a Friday evening flight. It had been a tough week, and I wanted to get home. A few minutes before take off, we were taxiing towards the runway as an unwelcome voice came over the antenna, “Sorry folks, we have just had word from air traffic control that a thunderstorm has moved into Dallas, and we have to stay put for at least 20 minutes until we get an update”. Twenty minutes became forty minutes, and forty minutes became two hours. If you fly enough, you know the routine! At every weather update there were groans of frustration. What I remember about this flight was the attitude of the airline stewardesses. They did not miss a beat trying to keep the passengers amused and distracted. They told jokes, they held quizzes, and they kept the atmosphere upbeat. People talk and write about the Southwest Airways culture of fun; however, nothing will compare to seeing it in action. On this flight, there was one event that I will never forget. It is something I have mentioned to people when making small-talk, and also something that I include in speeches when I am doing keynotes on the benefits of incorporating fun into the workplace.
Sometime during the two hour delay, one of the stewardesses found out that an elderly passenger on board was having his birthday. The passenger was a man in his 80’s. One of the stewardesses got on the microphone and announced that there was a “birthday boy” on board. A few rows in front of me I could see the old man, and I smiled as I saw the other stewardess, a very pretty busty blond, bringing him a bottle of “bubbly”. The old man was sitting in the window seat, and she approached him, all eyes were on her. She lent in towards him, handed him the bottle, and immediately started singing happy birthday to him in the same kind of sexy, husky voice as Marilyn Monroe sang to President Kennedy on his birthday in 1962. The old man had a huge smile on his face as he and the stewardess had this “intimate” moment. There was no doubt in my mind that this was an incredibly great birthday gift for him. The stewardess had found an opportunity to bring humor to her workplace, make an old man happy in a humorous, dignified manner, and make the passengers chuckle. She had embraced the workplace culture that Herb Kelleher had initiated during the early years of Southwest Airways. I have no doubt that this stewardess is proud of the company she works for and what it represents. It does not surprise me that during tough economic times, Southwest Airways was able to continue to succeed.
I do about 20 business trips a year that require me to fly, and I choose to fly with Southwest as much as possible. I have had my fair share of flight delays and other hiccups along the way, but I remember things that want me to help them succeed. I remember my boss and I being abandoned by a competitor airline in Corpus Christi, Texas, when the last flight at night was suddenly cancelled and we were on a day business trip. The employees at the airline gate desk had literally walked away from the passengers without telling us what was going on, and when we chased after them, we were abruptly told that we were out of luck this evening, and should go to the ticket desk to arrange travel for the next day. At the ticket desk, we were informed that we could get on the stand-by list for a 2 pm flight the next day. This was not acceptable to us, so we went to the Southwest desk and they immediately put us on the first flight in the morning, and even asked us if we needed help getting accommodation. They phoned a local hotel to get us rooms and a hotel shuttle bus. That little bit of customer service will get Southwest Airways my business for many, many years.
One final note on Southwest that I love to tell people about is that I was at the back of the plane and was listening to two stewardesses chatting on a flight late at night with the lights dimmed and most people snoozing. One stewardess said to the other, “You know, I am going to work for Southwest for a couple of years and then I should have enough money to be able to afford to go to rodeo school!” As an Irishman who grew up in small towns, these words were music to my ears. Where else in the world could you hear those words?! Southwest doesn’t just hire funny people- they hire interesting human beings that bring character to the company.

10 Benefits of Having a Workplace Culture that Embraces Fun:
1. Enhance your customer service – Imagine having clients that have such a good experiences that they are actively talking about your company, and recommending it for business.
2. Stimulate workplace passion and creativity.
3. Evoke a culture of helpfulness and balanced fun.
4. Recruit talent and retain valued employees.
5. Elevate performance and morale.
6. Enhance teamwork, motivation, and recognition.
7. Understand the competitive advantage of a fun workplace
8. It can help empower employees to be successful.
9. Benefit from employees working hard, playing hard, and having fun at both.
10. Diffuse conflict with humor

Recommended reading
The Levity Effect by Adrian Gostick & Scott Christopher

If you have any advice, thoughts, or comments on embracing fun in the workplace, please feel free respond to this blog or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.) www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved

Energized Employees Power Your Profits – “Rewards and Recognition – Bringing Workplaces From Good To Great”

Dave Hill - Article on Rewarding and Recognizing Employees

A few weeks ago, my boss walked into my office and told me that I was going to receive an “on the spot award” of $100 for some work I did that was considered to be of great value to the corporation. It made me feel good, and it was used to have a relaxing meal with my family.
I am a great believer in taking everyday workplace activities and looking for opportunities to have fun and make people feel good. Looking back on my 28 year engineering career and my purpose as an engineer, I have come to the conclusion that I have a passion to help people, to create a fun working environment, and to make people laugh.
My job requires me to travel a lot, and to interact with hundreds of people a year. For many years, I have been asking people what exceptional things are going on in their workplaces. In a previous article, I talked about a secretary coming up with the idea of bringing an ice cream truck into a chemical plant as a fun way to get the heat stroke safety message across. In another article, I wrote about a charity organization that has a KUDOS program where employees are making note of fellow employees going over and beyond normal work duties, and is a formal recognition program. These are people that are proactive in taking a workplace from good to great. Let’s look at an example:

I want you to imagine your boss with a $100 check in his hand. You have been working late at night all week and also on the weekend to get a project completed on time. You volunteered to help out and you have been noticed. Your boss takes a thank you card out of a drawer in his desk and takes the elevator up to the executive offices. He walks from office to office and gets thank you signatures after explaining to them what you have done. He takes the check for $100 and inserts it into the card and puts it into an envelope. But he doesn’t send the card to you…he addresses it to your spouse and kids…..with a personal note, thanking the family for the personal time…
Imagine how you feel, your spouse who may have been angry at the company because of the extra household burden, trying to get kids to and from school, sport practices etc., is now feeling more amicable towards the company. The work and family time has not been taken for granted. The spouse might even boast to friends about the achievement and talk positively about the company (think free recruitment). Picture your kids reading the thank you note while holding the $100 check and thinking to themselves, “This is so cool, our parents are important, and now we have enough money to buy all the ice cream in the world!”

If you are a supervisor or manager etc., imagine what value was received from $100, and the price of a thank you card and stamp. Visualize a happy worker who is energized, more productive, and willing to volunteer for future challenges. Taking a workplace from good to great does not always require huge resources- it involves a proactive, creative, and thoughtful touch.

11 Success Strategy for Rewarding Employees
1. Recognize achievements at every opportunity – create a positive workplace culture of reinforcement at all levels of the organization and for all employees (favoritism can erode this initiative and deplete its credibility).
2. If you are recognizing or rewarding someone, for increased effectiveness, tell them the specific behavior or action that they are being rewarded for, and how it made you feel. This applies to the workplace, the community and your family members.
3. Reward in a timely manner and communicate the achievement as widespread as possible. By communicating throughout the organization, you are reinforcing the behaviors and actions that you want others to follow.
4. The specific level of accomplishment and reward size should correlate.
5. Put thought into what types of rewards would be best appreciated by the employee.
6. Brainstorm ways to reward and recognize people in your specific organization. Keep evolving and find and use new ways to make this program effective.
7. Have a competition on how recognition can be taken from good to great (and recognize the people who came up with ideas!).
8. Remember, everyone wants to be appreciated whether they are employees or leaders.
9. The newer generations thrive on recognition and rewards – if you have a high turnover of younger employees this can help stem that flow.
10. Look over your shoulder after you have implemented a successful recognition and reward program and see the increased camaraderie, productivity, loyalty, and employee engagement.
11. Read books such as 1001 Ways to Reward Employees by Bob Nelson; this contains a wealth of ideas, and costs only $10.

If you have any advice, thoughts, or comments on recognizing and rewarding employees, please feel free respond to this blog or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.) www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved

Energized Employees Power Your Profits – “Understanding Job Trade-Off’s and God’s Sense of Humor”

Dave Hill - Article on Job Trade-Off's

It was July 13th, 1998, and I was on top of my house putting on a new roof covering. I was installing new tar-type roof shingles after removing three layers of old ones. My wife and I were aching and hurting from carrying the heavy bundles of shingles onto the roof. I remember thinking to myself, “I never want to be so poor that I have to do this again.” Anyone who has done this type of work will relate to how physically punishing it is. At that time, I was employed by a major insurance carrier as a Property Insurance Loss Prevention Specialist in Canada. My job was to visit heavy industry locations, identify major equipment breakdown risks, and recommend actions to reduce the risk. I worked out of my house as a field engineer, and would go to the corporate office every year for my performance review. My boss was very happy with my performance, I was doing exceptional work going over and beyond what was expected, but every year he would give me the same story, saying, “You must remember, Dave, that in the present economic climate, a 2% pay increase is not too bad.” This boss was not liked by any of the field engineers for many reasons. His character and ethics were questionable, and we did not trust him or respect him. When he decided to move, it was a breath of fresh air. I was not at all concerned when he announced that he was transferring to the company’s insurance division in Dallas, Texas.
Fast forward 3 years, and I have resigned from the insurance company after finding a new career that would allow me to do more of what I liked and would also pay me nearly double the money. It would involve me working at the corporate office of a chemical corporation in Dallas, Texas, USA. As far as I was concerned, I would never work in the property insurance industry again- I was sick of being poor.
I arrived at the corporate office, and within a few weeks I was given the assignment of organizing a meeting with the insurance carriers, and basically giving them a scolding over some loss prevention reports that were not timely and accurate. The insurance carrier representatives arrived into the conference room. Tension was in the air as they knew that we had issues with the work they were doing. Low and behold, who should walk in the door – my ex-boss from Canada. I ended up reprimanding him and his direct reports in a professional manner, and we came up with a solution to make sure our corporate insurance needs would be met. I smiled to myself thinking that God not only has a plan for me, he also has a wicked sense of humor. Some years later, this not so nice ex-boss went to work for a company called Enron, the infamous energy company that went belly-up. God had not finished messing with him.
This week, twelve years later, I came across a woman in her 30’s who was describing her job working for a marketing company. She said it was so perfect that if they asked her to sign a lifetime employment contract, she would sign it immediately. She stated that she has a great relationship with her boss, and that she loves everything about the work she does.
This woman is one of the small percentages of people who do not have to deal with job trade-offs. I have had three different careers, each of them have been extremely rewarding and have helped me grow as an engineer; however, none of them have been perfect. Each one has had significant negative aspects.
Career #1 – Engineering Officer on Cargo Ships – working in 120 degree Fahrenheit engine rooms, being away from home for 6 to 9 months at a time, working 7 days a week, dangerous.
Career #2 – Loss Prevention Specialist in the Property Insurance Industry – I did not respect or trust my boss. I was not paid well. I had to travel a lot.
Career #3 – Principal Risk Engineer – My work included regular conflict.

What can we learn from this?
1. Every job has its trade offs. There are very few “perfect” jobs. It is so important to look over your shoulder periodically, and reevaluate your job. What do you like about it and what do you dislike? The aspects you dislike are the trade-offs. Ask yourself the question, “Are the trade-offs worth it?” If not, why be in a job that is not meeting your needs?
2. Identify what you need to do to move to a job or new career which will incorporate more of what you have a passion for, and less of what you dislike.
3. Write down the steps to make change happen and set goals (research the job, identify training needs, get career guidance etc.)
4. Talk to people doing the job or in the group/department to find out what the expected trade-offs are. Make sure you are not stepping into an arena of unexpected job challenges.

I would appreciate any feedback or personal stories on job trade-offs. Please use the comments section below or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com –
Thanks, Dave

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio, Keynotes, Workshops, etc.)
www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved.

Getting the Exceptional Workplace – “Taking Customer Service to the Doctor”

Photo by Lauren Nelson

It was a Wednesday afternoon in September, 2009, and I was at the doctor’s office to have a chest infection checked out. While reading an article on leadership in the Small Business Magazine, I witnessed an event that disturbed me. At the reception window a woman in her 30’s was checking in for her doctor’s appointment. They pulled her details up on the computer and pointed out to her that she had a balance overdue of $20.29, and told her that she would need to pay that today. The patient was soft spoken, and explained that she could not pay the deductible today or the outstanding amount on her account due to her financial circumstances. The receptionist said that she would have to check with the doctor to see if he would still see her today, considering the inability to pay. The receptionist came back and stated that the doctor would see her, but she would have to provide a specific date for full payment of all payments due. She also said that in the event of non-payment by that date, there would be an additional $15 penalty. The patient explained again that she was in financial difficulty, and could not give a specific date for payment. The receptionist then asked the woman if she would like to set up a payment plan. The woman nodded, and she was then brought away from the reception area through a door to an inside office.
What disturbed me was that the receptionist had conducted the conversation in such a loud manner that everyone in the reception area was able to hear what was going on. I imagined how embarrassed I would be if I had been in the young woman’s position. She maintained her composure, but my instinct told me that she had been publicly humiliated. Nobody deserves that kind of treatment, and I began to wonder if I wanted to remain a patient of this doctor. I, like many people, have been challenged financially at periods of my life, and can relate to being in a difficult position. It was great that the doctor had a system to work out a financial plan; however, it would seem to me that the doctor’s office could easily have a system which also maintains human dignity. The patient could easily have been directed to go to the more private back room at the first indication of financial difficulties. If you were this woman, would you come back to this doctor in the future? Would you recommend this doctor to your friends? Is there an opportunity for customer service improvement? – Absolutely.

Dave Hill - Customer Service

Now let me take you to one of my favorite customer service locations- the beer- brewing supply store. The Texas temperature has dropped below 90 F, and I get ready for one of my favorite hobbies- brewing beer. I started this hobby over 20 years ago using simple techniques. However, with annual investments and upgrades to equipment, I now own overly complicated high-tech equipment. I get the ingredients from a supply store in Dallas, Texas. As someone who only visits the store a few times a year, here is how I get treated:
I open the door, and nearly immediately my name is shouted out “Daaaaaave!”, making me feel as good as Norm from the TV series Cheers. Immediately I am asked how I can be helped, and I am pointed to where all the different ingredients for my recipe are located. They help me adjust the weighing scales to take into consideration the weight of the container, even though they have showed me how to do it 30+ times over the years. They do this every time I visit without complaint (I can never remember the sequence of pressing the scale reset buttons). Once I have the malted barley ingredients weighed out, I typically find that one of the store employees is there without prompt, offering to put the grain through the grinder mill for me and package it so I do not get my clothes dusty. They then go down my list to make sure I have all the ingredients I needed and then they question me on any other things I may have forgotten so I do not have a repeat trip. On one particular occasion as I was paying for my ingredients, another customer came in with a bottle of his home-brew beer and asks the store owner to taste it for quality. The owner takes a drink, asks me to taste it, and then comments “this is so good, I would pay money for it”. I could see the customers face light up with pride. Before I left the store, the owner made small-talk and jokes with me, and also reminded me that the club was having a party soon and to make sure I turned up. I left the store feeling good.
Since I have been brewing so long, I now regularly receive catalogues for supplies. The online purchase of ingrediants is sometimes slightly cheaper than the store, but I would not think of going that direction. I feel loyal and I want them to succeed.

Dave Hill - My Home-Brewery

TEN THINGS YOU CAN DO TO KEEP YOUR CUSTOMERS LOYAL
1) Train your employees on the importance of customer service and the expectations
2) Get feedback from your customers – what do we do well, what can we do better – have a competition to encourage feedback
3) Keep the contact with the customer positive, start by smiling and ask “how can I help you today”
4) Embrace respect, trust, and levity in the workplace, get employees talking positively about the workplace away from the office
5) Teach your employees name memorizing skills – remembering names makes customers feel important
6) Promote an office with a culture of helpfulness and teamwork. This shine will come across to customers
7) Make sure everyone knows what the customer wants and what their role is in helping the customer
8) Make notes in the file on previous customer discussions so that you have small talk ready
9) Go out of your way to help customers – do something extraordinary that they will communicate to friends
10) Listen to your customers needs, do not interrupt. Use listening skills

SOME RECENT CUSTOMER SERVICE OBSERVATIONS
1) I have seen a waiting room where most of the reading materials incorporated light hearted, fun reading material instead of the usual doom and gloom of the newspapers and magazines
2) My financial planner has a big screen TV where he would normally have the channel set to a station which showed the daily stock price trend. During my semi-annual visit to his office while the recession was at its worst, he had me laughing because he had chosen to play cartoons on the TV instead. He told me and my wife that the financial news was too depressing for his customers and so he was taking action.
3) When I recently went to get a new pair of glasses, the store manager set the stage for fun. He immediately started toying with my wife and me and pointed out glasses that he did not want me to choose. “If you are John Lennon you can choose these round glasses, if not, don’t even think about it!!” Catching onto his playful demeanor, I responded “so it looks like I need to choose frames that are somewhere between a John Lennon and a Sarah Palin style!!” We spent over half an hour in this play mode, and the glasses buying experience was totally enjoyable. Price was good, quality was good, and the customer service experience was exceptional.
4) I am at the airport security at the stage where you hold up your boarding pass for security to look at just before you enter the metal detector frame. I held my boarding pass rigidly, and the security girl smiled at me and stated, “You do that so well, I bet you practice!” Catching onto her smile and her playfulness, I replied “Some people try to wing it; I practice in front of the mirror until it is beyond perfect”. She laughed and waved me through. Security screening was an energizing process for me that day.
5) I am at the dentist, and he has taken the time to make some notes on a conversation we had at my previous visit. “How did your vacation to Ireland go”? “Your daughter has just started high school, how is that going”. His small talk is personalized, and makes me feel validated.

If you have any advice, thoughts, or comments on this subject, please feel free respond to this blog or send me an e-mail at dave@davehillspeaks.com

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio – Keynotes – Workshops etc.) www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved

The Exceptional Workplace – “Superhero Leadership”

Dave Hill - Thoughts On Superhero Leadership

In a world where the media inundates us with negative news, it was a breath of fresh air recently to read a CNN article on the Top 10 Heroes of 2009 (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/archive09/index.html). If there is one thing that energizes me, it is ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Here is a brief look at a few of the 2009 contenders for the CNN annual search for individuals changing the world.
1) A New York City school bus driver who has handed out 70,000 free meals in his mobile soup kitchen
2) A bartender who has brought a sustainable clean water system to 25,000 people in 5 countries
3) A contractor in Iraq who has distributed nearly 650 free wheelchairs to children in need.

Imagine how proud you would feel if one of these incredible people was your manager or a coworker. Reading this article immediately had me reflecting on two people from my past. They were my bosses for several years (at different times) when they held a management role in the corporate office. One is now a successful consultant and also finds the time out of his busy schedule to give back to the community. He, his wife, and some friends cook up hot dogs and buns and drive to the street corners where underprivileged people looking for on-the-spot work gather. He delivers the food at lunchtime, knowing that the people remaining have not been able to get work that day. He also takes the time to mentor a low income family. The other boss not only has an infectious positive attitude, he also gives back to the world, he has had exchange students in his house over the years, and he also has mentored low income kids to help guide them towards success. These are just a sample of the things they volunteer to do.

Why is this important to me? In my job as a risk engineer, I am continuously challenged in my quest to prevent low probability accidents. Over a 12 year period, there have been times when I have felt that my job was not valued, and that I should seek out a more satisfying job. I want to share the importance of having managers that are good human beings and good leaders, whether in the workplace or in the community.

After working as an engineer for nearly 30 years in three different careers, I learned a long time ago that there is no perfect job. Every job has its trade-off’s. You can have an excellent job (e.g. it makes you feel important, it challenges you, it provides opportunities for advancement, it provides opportunities for ongoing personal and professional development etc.), but you have a boss that is less than perfect (e.g. lack of trust, compromised ethics, questionable values, treats you like an employee rather than a human being etc.). You can have an excellent boss (e.g. impeccable ethics, goes to bat for you, looks after your promotion and pay raises, is a good human being, inspires you, has a positive attitude), but a less than perfect job (e.g. you feel that the job is not important to the company, you do not feel energized, you do not spend enough time with your family etc.). Everyone can relate to job trade-offs, and this becomes extremely relevant when companies are focused on creating a culture that minimizes the turnover of valued employees.

When companies are hiring or promoting people into a management position, it is important that the people being recruited or promoted have the right skills, the right attitude, exceptional management skills and are decent human beings. A badly placed manager can cause a significant erosion of profits if your valued employees start to head out the door and go work for the competition.

Some Traits of Exceptional Managers That Can Drive Loyalty:
1) Exceptional communicators trained in skills such as negotiation, listening, and conflict management.
2) Inherent positive attitude
3) Impeccable ethics and can be trusted
4) Open door policy where direct reports can discuss problems and get guidance (one of the bosses above once told me that part of his job was to remove hurdles so I could be successful)
5) Invites feedback and direct reports can speak openly and frankly
6) Strong healthy sense of humor and encourages levity
7) Communicates frequently
8) Have value for work-home balance
9) Treats workers as human beings rather than “just employees”
10) Recognizes and rewards direct reports at every opportunity
11) Coaches and mentors
12) Leads by example
13) Encourages the type of risk taking that will advance the company
14) Exhibiting the character traits of heroes

10 Traits of Managers That Will Drive Your Employees to the Competition
1) Micro-management
2) Withholding information that affects direct reports
3) Cannot be trusted
4) Lack of respect for direct reports
5) Indecisive
6) Sarcastic (covert negativity) sense of humor
7) Lack of communication
8) Leads by fear
9) Manipulative
10) Does not tolerate mistakes

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio – Keynotes – Workshops etc.) www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved

Dealing With Workplace Conflict – “Mutiny at the Bay Of Lions”

Photo by NOAA

It was July 1986, at about two o’clock in the morning. I was on an Irish ship as chief engineer officer. The ship had left Morocco on the North coast of Africa with a full cargo of oranges. I was not in a deep sleep, as the ship was being thrown around by the waves and there was the continuous crashing and banging of pots and pans and other bits and pieces being ejected from their storage areas. Beside my bunk were my working coveralls laid out on the floor with my boots. They were there in readiness of emergencies that would regularly happen in the ship engine room. I had been on the ship for several months, and got used to the regular, “Chief, come quickly” urgent requests summoning me to the engine room where equipment breakdowns and emergencies were frequent. The pounding on the door this early morning was different; it was overly aggressive. I was immediately alert from my sleep. The chief officer switched on my light, and with a furrowed brow, he exclaimed, “I need your help to take over the ship from the captain!” He was in fact asking me to embark on a mutiny, an act that could result in losing my officer credentials and destroy my career.
The ship was in a notoriously bad area north of Africa called the Bay of Lions, carrying oranges in its refrigerated cargo holds. The Bay of Lions was living up to its reputation, and there was a howling storm outside. Our ship was taking a hammering, and was rolling precariously on its course towards Marseilles, France. The waves were hitting us side on, and the engine was screaming as the ship lurched when hit by a large wave. The propeller would come near the surface of the sea. I arrived quickly on the bridge of the ship where the captain was staggering around with blood on his face from a fall. When I asked the drunken captain what was going on, I received a vacant glance. The chief officer exclaimed that the ship was in danger, and that we needed to immediately change course and seek shelter. With my heart beating nervously, I agreed and as the second most senior officer on the ship, I had the captain escorted from the bridge. The seriousness of the storm became apparent the next day when it was determined that we had a damaged rudder bearing. The subsequent dry-dock also showed that the thick metal plating on the bow of the ship had been “pushed in” by the force of the waves. The day following the mutiny, I went to the captain’s office to discuss the events of the early morning and try and get a feel for the consequences. I knocked and entered to see him stealthily try and hide his “breakfast beer”.
What did I learn from this? This was probably a marking point in my career, a point where my instinct told me to do the right thing, no matter what the consequence. As my career progressed and transitioned to different industries, I have maintained ethics that will allow me to weather any storm, be it on a ship, on a land-based engineering organization, or in a corporate office.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE EFFECTS OF DESTRUCTIVE MANAGEMENT?
a. Employees are distracted and productivity suffers
b. Stress levels result in motivation and self esteem being impacted
c. Absenteeism and high turnover erode profits
d. Loss of respect and trust
e. Deadlines get missed
f. Workplace safety may be compromised

10 WAYS TO DEAL WITH STRESS AND CONFLICT ASSOCIATED WITH DESTRUCTIVE MANAGEMENT
Note: The variables of managerial personalities, workplace culture, and specific scenarios make this difficult to identify hard and fast success strategies. The following are offered with the understanding that circumstances may dictate that some are more effective than others in your working environment
1) Bring the issue to the table once the emotional levels are conducive to respectful communication. Take into consideration whether it is a one-time mistake or a behavioral issue
2) Listen to the managers points of view and empathize honestly without patronizing
3) A positive attitude will give you a head start in conflict management
4) Do not dwell on past conflict; it increases your stress levels, deal with the issue at hand
5) Make an effort to surround yourself with upbeat, positive attitude, lighthearted people. Don’t spiral into destructive negativity.
6) Do not get sucked into groups whose conversations resound of negativity and continuous criticism of management and the company
7) Determine if you really want to work in this kind of destructive management environment. Is the rest of the job good enough that you can put up with this trade-off?

ACTIONS THAT SHOULD BE USED WITH EXTREME CAUTION:
8) Use humor where appropriate to lighten up the situation – taking into consideration the temperament of the manager
9) Talk to the manager privately, and clearly state the problem and how it makes you feel.
10) Involve Human Resources or your managers boss when the circumstances dictate a need to elevate the issue (this may be a permanent relationship breaker)

This is an important subject to me. Any feedback or stories would be greatly appreciated. We can help each other have better working lives. You can reply to me at dave@davehillspeaks.com or reply to this blog in the comment section below.

Dave’s Public Speaking Website (Bio – Keynotes – Workshops etc.) www.davehillspeaks.com

Copyright © 2009 Dave Hill Speaks LLC all rights reserved